Meet Your Contacts – Don’t Just Send an E-Mail

An email often won’t cut it!

The digital age through which we are living makes communicating with others easier than ever before. We can message business clients, prospects or friends and receive responses instantly. Longer messages are often sent via email and can be replied to just as quickly, thanks to the constant stream of notifications buzzing through our mobile phones. However, sometimes this copious communication can lose meaning and seem distant. Nuances that would be picked up in face-to-face contact during business meetings are often easily lost amongst a sea of auto-corrected words and emojis.

Another dimension

Body language and facial expressions play such an important role in the formation of relationships as they allow you to really understand how your conversation is making the person you’re speaking to feel. Once you know how someone reacts to your opinions, you can work out the values that will underpin your long-term business relationship and go from there.

Be appreciated

You will gain so much more from a face-to-face meeting than from an e-mail, phone call or even a video call. When you sit down with someone, there’s no risk of the connection cutting-out, or your email notifications appearing on screen at the least convenient time. Additionally, whoever you are meeting will genuinely appreciate the effort you’ve gone to in meeting them and giving them your full attention, whilst all of your competitors were still glued to their phones. This appreciation may well be transformational for you and your business, resulting many years of profitable trading.

The multiplier effect

Another huge benefit of meeting business contacts in person is that they can invite their associates to the meeting. Nowadays, being copied into an email is often referred to as a personal introduction. However, nothing beats meeting that business introduction face-to-face, getting to know them and having a conversation about how you could help each other’s businesses in a level of detail which would never be included in an email.

Be a giver

Talking of detailed business meetings, networking in person can help you to learn far more about how you can work alongside other businesses, than any amount of digital marketing could ever achieve. Going to the effort of turning up to your preferred networking group’s meeting every week and showing other people that you care about their businesses will help them to care about yours, and give you the right referrals you’re looking for.

Nurture the relationship

A further advantage of meeting face-to-face with other entrepreneurs is that if, having worked with them, you need to have a difficult conversation further down the line, relating back to your previous meeting when you pick-up the phone can give you an important lead-in to the conversation, reducing any potential awkwardness. That way, you are less likely to get hung-up on or sent straight to voicemail when you call. If people enjoy each other’s company before working together, they are more likely to look for amicable and mutually beneficial solutions to any issues that may arise over the course of their relationship.

Dividends down the line

Ultimately, starting business relationships with a meeting ensures that all parties involve can understand each other and then decide to support each other, as they discover shared values and personality traits. This makes it far more likely that such relationships will last for many years, providing huge benefits to both parties.

So, if you feel a meet up for a chat about your business issues and needs could help, please contact me on 07774 548822 or email me at ralph@drs-business-solutions.co.uk